Movable doll eye



April 1, 1958 R. 1. PRUPIS MOVABLE DOLL EYE Filed Feb; 9, 1955 ROBERT l.PRUPIS i tat MOVABLE BULL EYE Robert I. Prupis, West Orange, N. J.,assignor to Margon Corporation, Bayonne, N. 3., a corporation of NewJersey Application February 9, 1955, Serial No. 487,095

4 Claims. (Cl. 46-169) housed within a protective housing to form anassembly which is inserted through the eye opening into a socket moldedon the inside of the doll head. Unlike the eyesets :used in rigid dollheads, there is no room to permit use of a weight arm between the eyeand the weight, and the weight itself must be limited in dimension.weight extends rearwardly directly from the lower part of the eyeball.

Such eyes have operated successfully when diecast out of metal. It isnot possible to obtain a life-like eye with good depth and transparencyat the iris, when using painted metal, and it has therefore beennecessary to employ a composite eye made partly of plastics material andpartly of metal. In one commercial form the eye and weight are diecastintegrally, but a circular plastics lens is inserted at the front of theeye to simulate the iris and pupil portions. In another form the eye hasbeen made of plastics material, and the weight and trunnions have beenmade of metal. in either case, there are problems attendant upon theassembly of the plastics and metal parts, in addition to the increasedcost of making and assembling separate parts.

In the case of a rigid doll head, it has already been suggested to makean eye and weight arm and weight all out of a single piece of moldedplastics material, but in such case there is no limit to the size of theweight and Weight arm to produce sufiicient turning moment fordependable operation. In the case of a flexible doll head it would besimilarly convenient and economical to mold an individual eye and itsweight integrally out of a plastics material, but the low specificgravity, the limited dimension of the weight, and the absence of aweight arm, cause the resulting operation to be undependable andunsatisfactory.

The primary object of the present invention is to generally improveindividual doll eyes. object is to overcome the foregoing difficulty andto simplify the manufacture of such eyes by making the eye and weightout of a single integral body of plastics material, while at the sametime insuring dependable operation of the eye. A further object is toprovide such an eye which may be used in the same housing as now used,and which therefore may be used in the eye sockets of flexible dollheads as now made. Differently expressed, no change is required in thecores or plugs already standardized and used for molding the socket ofthe doll head.

To accomplish the foregoing general objects, and other more specificobjects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in the dolleye elements and their re lation one to another as are hereinafter moreparticularly described in the following specification. The specificationis accompanied by a drawing in which;

Instead the a A more particular 2,323,581 Patented Apr. 1., 1958 Figure1 is a fragmentary vertical section through one eye socket of a dollhead;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the housing of the eye assemblyshown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the eye shown in Figure 2, with thehousing removed;

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the eye and the two separableparts of the housing in which the eye .is received;

Figure '5 is a rear elevation of the eye; and

Figure 6 is a partially sectioned side elevation of the eye.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figure 1, the dollhead 12 has an eye socket 14 molded .immediately behind an eye openingthrough which an eye 16 is exposed. The eye 16 is pivotally housed in ahousing generally designated 20, which is snugly received vin the socket14. It will be understood that there .are a pair of sockets 14 receivinga pair of eye assemblies of the type here described, and that each eyeassembly is a complete or self contained operable unit.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings, the housing 20 is madeup of a pair of separable parts 22 and 24. In the present case these areforward and rear parts which separate on a vertical plane. The eye 16 ispivotally mounted, and in the present casehas trunnions 26 which aredisposed on the horizontal axis of the eyeball portion 28 of the eye,the latter being less than hemispherical in configuration. The forwardpart 22 of the housing has bearings 30 to receive the trunnions26. It isalso cut away to provide an eye opening 31 (Figure 4) which conformsgenerally to the eye opening in the doll head.

In the present case the housing 20 is made of sheet metal. The sides ofthe forward part 22 of the housing may be flattened slightly at thebearings 30, as shown at 32, to provide more room for reception of thetrunnions 26. The trunnions may be inserted in the bearings bypreliminarily squeezing the top and bottom of the housing toward oneanother, thereby spreading the flattened sides 32 apart somewhat.

Thereafter the part 24 of the housing may be slid over the rear edge ofthe part 22, as shown in Figure 2. The rear part 24 may be indentedsomewhat at spaced points 34 (Figure 4) thereby forming stops to limitthe telescoping action of one part over the other, and the rear part 24also may be provided with forwardly projecting cars 36 which comeoutside the ends of the trunnions. This prevents compression of theflexible material of the head against the ends of the trunnions, whichwould increase friction and restrain movement.

The doll eye unit comprises a less than hemispherical eyeball portion28, and a weight portion 40 extending rearwardly of the rear edge of thelower part of the eyeball portion. It will be noted that the weightportion 40 is disposed substantially within a projected semi-cylindricalarea extending rearwardly of the eyeball portion 28 in the direction ofsimulated sight. The outside surface 42 of the weight portion conformsgenerally to the diameter of the eyeball. The length of the weightportion is limited by the fact that it must oscillate within the housing26, which in turn conforms to dimensions heretofore standardized whenusing a metal weight.

The dimension of the weight is limited in upward direction, as indicatedby the curved top surface 43 corresponding to the lower edge of the lens50, as is best shown in Figures 4 and 5. This clearance for access tothe lens region is maintained for convenience in molding, and it is thenpossible to mold the eye between the halves of a simple two part mold,without using retractable cores or bind the trunnion axis or to theweight 40.

the like. The mold halves separate in the direction of the fore-and-aftaxis of the eye.

If the eye and weight were molded out of a plastics material with theeye constituting the usual full hemisphere, the gravitational forceprovided by the weight would be insufiicient for dependable operation ofthe eye. I have found that the operation may be improved and madesatisfactory by eliminating some of the plastics material of the eyeballitself, below the iris portion, as indicated at 44. This part of the eyeis concealed when the eye is in use in a doll head, as will be evidentfrom inspection of Figure 2 of the drawing, which represents the worstcase. p The departure from hemispherical shape by elimination of thebottom part 61 is not visible through the eye opening. 7

I have found that in this way an amount of plastics 'materialcorresponding to about 10% of the total may be eliminated, and thisremoval of material forward of the trunnion axis corresponds to theaddition of material be- Referring now to Figures 4, 5 and 6 of thedrawing, the eyeball is preferably molded with a frusto-conical irisportion 50 and a cylindrical pupil portion 52 inside the eyeball. Theplastics material used is preferably a transparent material such ascellulose acetate butyrate or styrene. The inside of the iris portion 50is preferably ridged or roughened to reflect light coming from theoutside. The inside of the pupil portion 52 is preferably smooth andfiat, so that it will remain transparent. The pupil then appears blackwithout any need to coat it with black material, because the enclosedhousing prevents entry of light. As a precautionary matter the insidesurface 64 of the back of the housing may be sprayed or otherwisepainted with a black or dark coating to insure that the pupil will lookblack.

If desired, the eye may be provided with a simulated eyelash indicatedat 60. This may be made in either of two forms. In one form a rigid lashof plastics material is molded integrally with the eye, as is best shownin Figure'6. This is subsequently coated with a dark coating to bettersimulate an eyelash.

In another form, the lash may be flexible and made up of adjacentstrands of hair. In such case, the hemispherical eyeshell is slit orslotted on an arcuate line over the iris, and the lash is inserted andcemented in place, in accordance with conventional practice. The lash ispref erably curved to conform to the upper edge of the eye opening, sothat it lies against that opening when the eye looks forward, as inFigures 1 and 2. The opening movement is also limited by contact of theweight it with the bottom of housing 20.

Inasmuch as the one-piece eye and weight structure is molded or" aplastics material which is preferably transparent, it is necessary tocoat portions of the eye. More specifically, and referring to Figure 3,the part 62 above the lash 60 is flesh colored, While the part 64 belowthe lash 60 and around the iris 50, is white. The iris could be coloredat the back, but a better looking eye is obtained by using a slightlytinted transparent plastic, it being tinted brown for a brown eye; bluefor a blue eye; and left clear if it be desired to simulate a gray eye.The pupil portion 52 may be coated black, but is more simply andpreferably left transparent, reliance then being had on the enclosednature of the housing 20. i

The housing may itself be molded out of plastics material, and in suchcase the rear part of the housing'is preferably made of a dark coloredplastic. When the housing is made of sheet metal as here shown, theinside surface 64 may be darkened.

It is believed that the method of constructing and using my improveddolleye, as well as the advantages thereof, will be apparent from theforegoing detailed description. Many complete eye members may be moldedin a single shot by injection molding. The resulting eyes include theeye shell, the aris portion with its serrated rear surface, the pupilportion with its transparent rear surface, the weight, and even thetrunnions and the lash. The weight, although limited in dimensiondownwardly, upwardly and rearwardly, and therefore comparatively light,is made adequate for dependable operation by eliminating a substantialpart of the eye shell in a region forward of the trunnion. The resultingeye may be used in the already standardized housings and eye sockets.

A large part of the eyeball portion conforms to the surface of a sphere,and may be described as being less than hemispherical. It is providedwith a rearwardly extending weight portion, the outside of which has aradius about an axis in the direction of simulated sight, which radiusis substantially the radius of the eyeball portion. It may be slightlymore, as indicated in Fig. 6 by the change from the broken line at 61 tothe weight portion at 42, but this increase cannot be more than a littlebecause otherwise the eye movement in opening direction would be undulylimited. In practice the eye should open far enough for the lash toreach the top of the eye open- Indeed if the indentations 34 shown inFig. 4 of the drawing are made quite deep, it becomes desirable to formchannels or grooves along the outside of the weight, extending in thedirection of the axis of simulated sight, so that the opening movementof the eye will not be prematurely stopped by reason of the weightengaging the indentations 34.

The broken line at 61 in Fig. 6 indicates the usual hemisphericalconfiguration of the eyeball portion, and in the present case the lowerpart is stepped back or eliminated relative to the surface of a sphere,this being indicated by the change from broken line 61 to the solid line44.

The motion of the eye may be limited by the eyelash itself when theeyelash is molded out of plastic as'shown in Fig. 6. However, the spacelimitations in an eye of the present type result in a weight of suchdimension that it moves about as far as possible, and thus the weightmay act also as a motion limiting means, particularly when using a softlash made up of flexible strands of hair. Thus in Fig. 2 it will be seenthat the opening movement of the eye is limited by the weight just asthe lash reaches the top of the eye opening.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my inventionin a preferred form, changes may be made in the structure disclosed,without departing from the scope of the invention, as sought to bedefined in the following claims. in the claims the reference to socketsof standard dimension means the dimension heretofore used for eyeshaving a metal instead of a plastics weight, so that the same cores orso-called plugs may be used by the doll manufacturer when molding theflexible doll head.

I claim:

1. A sleeping individual doll eye, comprising a single integrally moldedbody of transparent plastics material, said body comprising a less thanhemispherical eyeball having an iris portion and a pupil portion insidethe eyeball, a weight portion disposed substantially within a projectedsemi-cylindrical area extending rearwardly from the rear edge of thelower part of the eyeball in the direction of simulated sight, theoutside of said weight portion having a radius about an axis in thedirection of simulated sight which radius substantially corresponds tothe radius of the eyeball, and the inside surface of said weight portionbeing shaped to clear an imaginary cylinder ex tending rearwardly in thedirection of simulated sight from the iris and pupil portions so thatthe entire piece may be molded in a two-part mold separating in thedirection of the line of sight, the bottom of said eyeball portion whichis concealed when the eye is in use in a dolls head being stepped backrelative to the surface of asphere below the iris portion and forwardlyof the weight portion, the rear edge of said stepped back portion beingintegral with the forward end of said weight portion and definingthereat a line of juncture extending peripherally of said stepped backportion and approximately below the pivot axis of the eye when the lineof sight is horizontal, the elimination of a part of said eyeballforward of said pivot axis being equivalent to the addition of materialto the weight portion rearward of said pivot axis to thereby providedependability of movement of the eye.

2. A sleeping individual doll eye, comprising a single integrally moldedbody of transparent plastics material, said body comprising a less thanhemispherical eyeball having a frusto-conical iris portion and a pupilportion inside the eyeball, said pupil portion having a smoothnon-reflective back surface and said iris portion having a serrated backsurface which reflects incident light, trunnions projecting outwardly ofsaid eyeball and defining the pivot axis of the eye, a weight portiondisposed substantially within a projected semi-cylindrical areaextending rearwardly from the rear edge of the lower part of the eyeballin the direction of simulated sight, the outside of said weight portionhaving a radius about an axis in the direction of simulated sight whichradius substantially corresponds to the radius of the eyeball, and theinside surface of said weight portion being shaped to clear an imaginarycylinder extending rearwardly in the direction of simulated sight fromthe iris and pupil portions so that the entire piece may be molded in atwo-part mold separating in the direction of the line of sight, thebottom of said eyeball portion which is concealed when the eye is in usein a dolls head being stepped back relative to the surface of a spherebelow the iris portion and forwardly of the weight portion, the rearedge of said stepped back portion being integral with the forward end ofsaid weight portion and defining thereat a line of juncture extendingperipherally of said stepped back portion and approximately below thepivot axis of the eye when the line of sight is horizontal, theelimination of a part of said eyeball forward of said pivot axis beingequivalent to the addition of material to the weight portion rearward ofsaid pivot axis to thereby provide dependability of movement of the eye.

3. A sleeping individual doll eye, comprising a single integrally moldedbody of transparent plastics material, said body comprising a less thanhemispherical eyeball having a frusto-conical iris portion and a pupilportion inside the eyeball, said pupil portion having a smoothnonreflective back surface and said iris portion having a serrated backsurface which reflects incident light, trun-' nions projecting outwardlyof said eyeball and defining the pivot axis of the eye, a weight portiondisposed substantially within a projected semi-cylindrical areaextending rearwardly from the rear edge of the lower part of the eyeballin the direction of simulated sight, the outside of said weight portionhaving a radius about an axis in the direction of simulated sight whichradius substantially corresponds to the radius of the eyeball, and theinside surface of said weight portion being shaped to clear an imaginarycylinder extending rearwardly in the direction of simulated sight fromthe iris and pupil portions so that the entire piece may be molded in atwo-part mold separating in the direction of the line of sight, thebottom of said eyeball portion which is concealed when the eye is in usein a dolls head being stepped back relative to the surface of a spherebelow the iris portion and forwardly of the weight portion, the rearedge of said stepped back portion being integral with the forward end ofsaid weight portion and defining thereat a line of juncture extendingperipherally of said stepped back portion and approximately below thepivot axis of the eye when the line of sight is horizontal, theelimination of a part of said eyeball forward of said pivot axis beingequivalent to the addition of material to the weight portion rearward ofsaid pivot axis to thereby provide dependability of movement of the eye,and a simulated lash projecting from said eyeball above said irisportion, the eyeball above said lash being flesh colored to simulate aneyelid and the eyeball below said lash outside the iris portion beingwhite.

4. A doll eye assembly for use in a flexible doll head having eyeopenings and eye sockets molded in back of said eye openings, saidassembly comprising an eye formed of a single integrally molded body oftransparent plastics material, said body comprising a less thanhemispherical eyeball, a weight portion disposed substantially within aprojected semi-cylindrical area extending rearwardly from the rear edgeof the lower part of the eyeball in the direction of simulated sight,the outside of said weight portion having a radius about an axis in thedirection of simulated sight which radius substantially corresponds tothe radius of the eyeball, and the inside surface of said weight portionbeing shaped to clear an imaginary cylinder extending rearwardly in thedirection of simulated sight from the iris and pupil portions so thatthe entire piece may be molded in a two-part mold separating in thedirection of the line of sight, the bottom of said eyeball portion whichis concealed when the eye is in use in a dolls head being stepped backrelative to the surface of a sphere below the iris portion and forwardlyof the weight portion, the rear edge of said stepped back portion beingintegral with the forward end of said weight portion and definingthereat a line of juncture extending peripherally of said stepped backportion and approximately below the pivot axis of the eye when the lineof sight is horizontal, the elimination of a part of said eyeballforward of said pivot axis being equivalent to the addition of materialto the weight portion rearward of said pivot axis to thereby providedependability of movement of the eye, and a housing in which said eye ispivotally mounted, said housing being made of two separate parts tofacilitate assembly of the eye inside the housing and having means topivot the eye at the axis of the eye, said housing having an eye openingat the front and being closed at the rear, the weight portion of saideye being limited in dimension to afford sleeping movement of the eyewithin the housing, and the latter being dimensioned to be received indoll head eye sockets of standard dimension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,958,861 Popovich May 15, 1934 2,219,855 Wagler Oct. 29, 1940 2,657,500Samolewitz Nov. 3, 1953 2,663,972 Lee Dec. 29, 1953 2,667,013 Tommarchiet a1 Ian. 26, 1954 2,696,064 Wolfe et al Dec. 7, 1954 2,753,660 BrudueyJuly 10, 1956

